Following a five-hour appeal hearing Friday with the NFL, the Broncos are hopeful running back Travis Henry will be cleared from allegations he failed a positive test for marijuana.

Five witnesses, including Henry and a polygraph examiner, were called during the hearing at a Phoenix hotel.

Henry’s defense team was led by Harvey Steinberg, a prominent Denver attorney who has represented numerous athletes from the Broncos, Rockies, Avalanche and Nuggets.

“We were very happy with how the hearing went and we look forward to the NFL’s decision,” Steinberg said.

The league is expected to announce its ruling Tuesday, the day after the Broncos play Henry’s former team, the Tennessee Titans at Invesco Field.

If the league rules against Henry, he could receive an immediate 16-game suspension, the punishment for third-time offenders. Although Henry received a five- year contract with $12 million in bonuses this offseason, the Broncos included enough safeguard clauses so they would owe the running back less than $5 million if they parted ways.

Drug testers allege 21 nanograms of marijuana were found in Henry’s urine sample, taken on Aug. 27.

Henry said in previous court documents the positive test must have been a mistake. The Broncos say Henry passed subsequent lie-detector and hair-follicle tests and had clean urine samples within a few days prior to the positive test and a few days after.

While the ruling Tuesday by commissioner Roger Goodell will determine Henry’s long-term fate, his availability for the game against the Titans will be determined by the health of his left knee.

Henry was sidelined last week against K.C. with a slight tear in his posterior cruciate ligament.

Selvin Young ready. Meanwhile, Selvin Young waits. If Henry plays Monday, Young will begin as the Broncos’ backup running back. If Henry can’t play, Young will start. And Young would be the Broncos’ running back the rest of the season.

“There’s no such thing as adjustment as far as how much I’m going to play,” said Young, who has 331 yards on 5.3 yards per carry. “I never get into that. I’m a young guy, so my main focus is the same as it was the first day I walked through the door. I’m trying to find a way to help the team. Whether it’s for four quarters or five minutes or two, I’ve just got to be ready to give what I’ve got.”

Young and Young. During their days at the University of Texas, Selvin Young and Tennessee quarterback Vince Young were road roommates.

“Best friends,” Selvin Young said.

The two remain in touch continuously, including a couple of times this week.

“We talked about football a little bit but we try not to push any buttons,” Selvin Young said. “We’re both competitive people. Very competitive people. When we play PlayStation at the house, we’ve got an extra controller because one’s going to get broken.”

Mike Klis was with The Denver Post from Jan. 1, 1998 before leaving in 2015 to join KUSA 9News. He covered the Rockies and Major League Baseball until the 2005 All-Star break, when he was asked to start covering the Broncos.

WASHINGTON — Thirty games into the 82-game NHL season, and nearly six weeks after the Matt Duchene trade, Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic discussed the state of his team before Tuesday’s 5-2 loss at the Washington Capitals.